14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
    both palm branch and reed(A) in a single day;(B)

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15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.(A)

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Therefore in one day(A) her plagues will overtake her:
    death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,(B)
    for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

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17 In one hour(A) such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’(B)

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea,(C) will stand far off.(D)

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10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off(A) and cry:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(B)
    you mighty city of Babylon!
In one hour(C) your doom has come!’

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“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.(A)
I will pour her stones(B) into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.(C)
All her idols(D) will be broken to pieces;(E)
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.(F)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(G)
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(H) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(I) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.

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Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads(A) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.(B)
Though they dig down to the depths below,(C)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(D)
    from there I will bring them down.(E)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(F)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.(G)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(H)
    there I will command the serpent(I) to bite them.(J)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword(K) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm(L) and not for good.(M)(N)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(O)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;(P)
he builds his lofty palace[a](Q) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation[b] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(R)

“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites[c]?”(S)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines(T) from Caphtor[d](U)
    and the Arameans from Kir?(V)

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy(W) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.(X)
“For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain(Y) is shaken in a sieve,(Z)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.(AA)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  4. Amos 9:7 That is, Crete

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute(A) in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan[a] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,(B)
    away from their native land.(C)’”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean

And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(A) Amos?(B)

“A plumb line,(C)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(D)

“The high places(E) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries(F) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(G)

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11 For the Lord has given the command,
    and he will smash(A) the great house(B) into pieces
    and the small house into bits.(C)

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“Fallen is Virgin(A) Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up.(B)

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
    will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
    will have only ten left.(C)

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12 This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s(A) mouth
    only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
    with only the head of a bed
    and a piece of fabric[a] from a couch.[b](B)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 3:12 Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.

14 The swift will not escape,(A)
    the strong(B) will not muster their strength,
    and the warrior will not save his life.(C)
15 The archer(D) will not stand his ground,
    the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
    and the horseman(E) will not save his life.(F)
16 Even the bravest warriors(G)
    will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.

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